He trumped more than 16,000 other entries with his picture of trekkers watching Gunung Rinjani, a volcano on the island of Lombok, Indonesia, erupt as the sun rose at the break of dawn.

Freelance photographer and contest judge Joel Sartore said on National Geographic, &#8220;This image best represented the craft of photography. Not only is the light subtle and beautiful, and not only is it a lovely scene, but there&#8217;s a volcanic eruption going on in the background.&#8221;

Deregistered

not my type of image, especially with regards to the light on the photographers on the left. if the linked image is indeed what was presented, the photographers/trekkers on the left are way bright considering that the sun is behind where they are at. still, it's a nice enough composition i guess.

Senior Member

not my type of image, especially with regards to the light on the photographers on the left. if the linked image is indeed what was presented, the photographers/trekkers on the left are way bright considering that the sun is behind where they are at. still, it's a nice enough composition i guess.

Moderator

Secondly, its common to judge winning entries as "jokes" or "not so good". I am guilty as charged. However, the winning entry is judged with its peers. In other words, it exist in a context of a body of works to be considered. Naturally the judges have to agree on a theme and guidelines to align with the contest, sponsors and other criterias. Even then judges disagree among themselves.

Finally, we are all subjective, nurtured by our surroundings and experiences. Thus we can all agree to disagree while being civil in our discussions.

Senior Member

Photography competition is very subjective, and it may be the best of the lot for that particular competition, but then, it still does not mean we or I have to like it, and it does not mean that it is a great image.

New Member

there are 3 categories. aaron's won grand prize, and there are other winners for nature, people and places. there should be more information on this contest in the NG website (i'm just too lazy to look now because i'm at the office). the link to the contest/winners/judging was posted in yahoo! news a few days back.

New Member

Secondly, its common to judge winning entries as "jokes" or "not so good". I am guilty as charged. However, the winning entry is judged with its peers. In other words, it exist in a context of a body of works to be considered. Naturally the judges have to agree on a theme and guidelines to align with the contest, sponsors and other criterias. Even then judges disagree among themselves.

Finally, we are all subjective, nurtured by our surroundings and experiences. Thus we can all agree to disagree while being civil in our discussions.

Sure I agree with that, I guess when someone posts an image here it is subjected to critique whether we like it or not, aren't we entitled to do that?

When I first saw it I kind of liked the colours but nothing about it struck me in any way if I compare it with some of the images that I have already seen on CS. The person on the far left looks like he's shooting the other side of the mountain, not the view that we're looking at so (if that is the award winning view).

Secondly, have you seen the other submitted photos to the same competition? They were absolutely stunning, hence my WTH reaction, and I'm a pretty good judge of what is stunning. I have no further say in the winning photo other than congrats to the photographer, but still...

The story of the group of trekkers who have trudged through valleys, mountain streams... Maybe they even had to fight bad snakes. Now they are drinking from the cup of victory by taking in the beautiful view.

Just read through the entries, with both relief, and surprise. Relief because the winning photo wasn't an HDR extravaganza.

And surprised because I really didn't know NatGeo encourages stitching of multiple exposures. That just opens up a whole lot of possibilities. For example, what is the maximum time differential allowed between each exposure that will be stitched in? Can I wait there till night and stitch in a moonrise shot for a little "Ansel" mood?

Compare this with the poor bloke that waited 7 days for the perfect exposure of the north face of Matterhorn. Has all this "planning and waiting for the moment" become irrelevant in today's photography.

Please, these musings has no bearings on the merit that Aaron deserves, but towards today's accepted photography norms and how far we are now allowed to push the post-production envelope in future photo competitions.

Senior Member

Just read through the entries, with both relief, and surprise. Relief because the winning photo wasn't an HDR extravaganza.

And surprised because I really didn't know NatGeo encourages stitching of multiple exposures. That just opens up a whole lot of possibilities. For example, what is the maximum time differential allowed between each exposure that will be stitched in? Can I wait there till night and stitch in a moonrise shot for a little "Ansel" mood?

Compare this with the poor bloke that waited 7 days for the perfect exposure of the north face of Matterhorn. Has all this "planning and waiting for the moment" become irrelevant in today's photography.

Please, these musings has no bearings on the merit that Aaron deserves, but towards today's accepted photography norms and how far we are now allowed to push the post-production envelope in future photo competitions.

First of all, Congrats to Aaron. It might not be my favourite photograph from the galleries, but its is still a beautiful shot; one of the many I wished I had the skills to take myself.

Every competition would define its own restrictions on post-processing

So long as the entries are deemed fit by the organiser , than I would say that the "effort" invested in getting shots, while commendable, should not have a bearing on the judging. A winning shot can be a lucky spur-of-the-moment grab shot or one that was taken only after tremendous efforts.

Judging should be done only on the final output, i.e. the photograph. That itself, as we have seen time and again, has already caused enough debate and disagreement.

New Member

For those who "sabo" this image, the ONLY thing I might want to gripe about is that the photograher in red on the left and the humans on the right are a little too far to the edge. Other than that, the exposures are nice (barring that it is HDR), and the effort to climb to the spot from 3am, is a worthy effort. I wonder why none of the "sour-grapes" above asked what his Camera Brand was? Nor his lens coice, or bitch that their personal lenses are sharper than his?

Come to think of it, Can ANYONE determine JUST BY LOOKING AT THE PIX ABOVE, what Brand Camera Aaron used? Or what BRAND SD/CF/XD Card was used? How about his tripod choice? Does it matter at all?

I reiterate my stand... Sharpen YOUR SKILLS, and NOT your Lens !!!
Now, get off your lazy butts, STOP being an "Armchair Commentator", and shoot some pictures !!!
And each time you pass comments, Post a Picture which YOU TOOK to show how it could be done BETTER.